Week 36 Acts 1
The disciples had to find a replacement for Judas. They were looking for a specific kind of candidate: one of the men who…accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out…beginning from the baptism of John until the day when (Jesus) was taken up.
I wondered how large the candidate pool would be. Small I would think. I figure there were at least three circles of people loyal to Jesus:
Circle #1: the original 12 disciples (Judas excepted)
Circle #2: people who accompanied Jesus ‘all the time’ (that was the stated requirement). The group included the two candidates in Acts 1 – Joseph Barsabbas & Matthias – and also a few other close & permanent & perpetual & full-time followers (the women named in Luke & the 70 men two chapters later might have been part of Circle #2).
Circle #3: people who were loyal to Jesus but not part of his day-to-day activities. People like Nicodemus. Joseph of Arimathea. The demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes. Zacchaeus. The Samaritan woman. The man born blind. Mary & Martha & Lazarus. Inside the circle…but not as close as the day-to-day insiders.
Anyway…I think Joseph Barsabbas & Matthias were part of that small & tight followership of Jesus that I’m calling Circle #2.
Note: quote from Acts 1:21-22 (ESV). The Circle #2 women are in Luke 8:1-3 and the 70 disciples in Luke 10:1 . Note 2: outside the circles were the thousands & thousands of people who’d had some exposure to the Lord’s teaching & miracles but had made the decision to not get on-board.